Tommy Caldwell Quotes

BASE jumping is skydiving from fixed objects, like buildings, antennae, bridges and earth - meaning mountains, cliffs. It's for sure - for me - it's the ultimate feeling of being in free fall, with all the visual references.

I got quite bored when I was hanging in the air. I want to do it without a parachute next.

What we can do now is contribute to a clearer understanding of what happened that day on Everest in the hope that the lessons to be learned will reduce the risk for others who, like us, take on the challenge of the mountains.

I base jumped off one of the highest buildings in the world.

I am immediately disinterested when I hear mountain-climbing stories.

When I was super young, we were hiking to the top of the 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado. You know, when I was in my early teens, we went to Bolivia and climbed to the tops of the highest mountains in the Alps. You know, those experiences were so exciting that when I came back to school, I was actually quite bored.

I was a snowboard bum and a climbing bum.

Right now, I'm just focused on the 8,000-meter peaks. I don't know what's next. I don't think I will get tired of climbing.

I wonder if it's like this for mountain climbers, he thought. You climb bigger and bigger mountains and you know that one day one of them is going to be just that bit too steep. But you go on doing it, because it’s so-o good when you breathe the air up there. And you know you'll die falling.

Personally, I would rather climb in the high mountains. I have always abhorred the tremendous heat, the dirt-filled cracks, the ant-covered foul-smelling trees and bushes which cover the cliffs, the filth and noise of Camp 4 (the climbers' campground), and worst of all, the multitudes of tourists which abound during the weekends and summer months.

It takes a lot of resources to climb Everest, and a lot of other people. But you should go do it.

Anyone who ever witnessed Ueli Steck flying up the Eigerwand would know that he was always in control of his actions. He was always moving with immense precision and a sense of safety.

There's always a little fear anytime you're doing something crazy because at any moment you can break a leg, land on your neck, or peel off the bar. Over the years, we've fallen so many times that we've kind of learned how to fall safely. Still, there is always a risk.

On the adrenaline level, the excitement from landing a jump and hooking a big bass are similar.

Today, to find a challenge is really hard. In the Alps, everything is done. The new lines, almost all of them are finished. So to find a new challenge, it's all beginning to go to speed.

I did a tandem parachute jump when I opened a golf course in Atlanta, Georgia. I jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet to land on the first tee, and then I played a couple of holes with golfer Arnold Palmer. That was brilliant.

When I'm not working, as a family we are obsessed with jumping off rocks into the sea and doing dangerous things.

To me, it's just not that important whether someone climbs the Eigerwand in ten hours or in three.

I wish they'd build a ski jump at the Grand Canyon; it'd be fantastic.

Gunther and I always shared the work. Each of us carried his own sleeping bag and tent, and porters carried the rest, until the highest camp, when we were on our own. Nobody helped us up there.

I know it is a dangerous sport but this is something I like.

If you want to train for big mountain endeavors, spend time in big mountains.

I always wanted to try Mt. Everest since I was a kid. I never thought I would be able to do anything like that.

You can, maybe, do something like Annapurna once in a lifetime. Then don't try to do it again.

On Mount Everest it feels as if you are in the womb, but on K2 you are always out on the edge.